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WDOD-AM Now Chattanooga's Liberal Talk "Voice"

A

AirwaveSurfer

Guest
This summer, there was a fair amount of talk on this board about rumors that Bahakel would flip WDOD-AM from standards to liberal talk. On October 3 (a week ago yesterday as I type this), those rumors came true, as WDOD-AM is now giving Chattanoogans a mix of national (mostly if not entirely Air America) and local liberal talk under the "1310 the Voice" moniker.

From what little I've heard of it, the Voice has a surprisingly professional sound for a station that, by some estimates, may have to settle for a small "niche" audience. I'm also pleased that the sweepers are in much the same style and have the same VO as those on WDOD-FM "96.5 The Mountain", which leads me to wonder if Bahakel is serious about trying to attract some crossover listenership between the AM and FM WDOD stations. If so, it would be a very smart move, as the average Mountain listener, from what I can tell, is already more liberal than the average listener of most other Chattanooga commercial music FM stations.

I personally don't expect to listen to the Voice much, as I don't care much for commercial political talk radio of any ideology these days. However, it is nice that Chattanooga has an alternative to the monotonously conservative views on the WGOW stations, and it'll surely be interesting to find out whether a liberal talk radio station can work even half as well in a supposed bastion of conservatism like Chattanooga as conservative talk stations have done in New York City, San Francisco, and other hotbeds of liberalism.<P ID="signature">______________
This is AirwaveSurfer, reminding you that portions of this post have been prerecorded.</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by AirwaveSurfer on 10/12/05 12:19 AM.</FONT></P>
 
> This summer, there was a fair amount of talk on this board
> about rumors that Bahakel would flip WDOD-AM from standards
> to liberal talk. On October 3 (a week ago yesterday as I
> type this), those rumors came true, as WDOD-AM is now giving
> Chattanoogans a mix of national (mostly if not entirely Air
> America) and local liberal talk under the "1310 the Voice"
> moniker.
>
> From what little I've heard of it, the Voice has a
> surprisingly professional sound for a station that, by some
> estimates, may have to settle for a small "niche" audience.
> I'm also pleased that the sweepers are in much the same
> style and have the same VO as those on WDOD-FM "96.5 The
> Mountain", which leads me to wonder if Bahakel is serious
> about trying to attract some crossover listenership between
> the AM and FM WDOD stations. If so, it would be a very
> smart move, as the average Mountain listener, from what I
> can tell, is already more liberal than the average listener
> of most other Chattanooga commercial music FM stations.
>
> I personally don't expect to listen to the Voice much, as I
> don't care much for commercial political talk radio of any
> ideology these days. However, it is nice that Chattanooga
> has an alternative to the monotonously conservative views on
> the WGOW stations, and it'll surely be interesting to find
> out whether a liberal talk radio station can work even half
> as well in a supposed bastion of conservatism like
> Chattanooga as conservative talk stations have done in New
> York City, San Francisco, and other hotbeds of liberalism.
>
I wouldn't necessarily call WGOW FM "monotonously conservative". Jeff Styles, long-time morning host, and program director Kevin Lockhart have always been liberal in their views. This is why I've always enjoyed listening to WGOW FM when I have the chance. I live closer to Knoxville, but occasionally can pick up WGOW FM and listen, and I have always liked their more liberal or open mindedness and think they are a much better talk station than sister Citadel talker, WNOX, in Knoxville.
Anyway, yes, the liberal talk on WDOD AM will be interesting to watch and see how it is received.
 
WDOD Carrying "Duke and the Doctor"?

An anti-Air America website says WDOD is now carrying the "Duke and the Doctor" show which was previously on WGOW-FM, I believe:


http://boreamerica.com/archives/2005/10/the-wdod-air-america-debate-continues.html#comments

Of course their spin is that WDOD is breaking format because it knows that liberal talk radio will fail in Chattanooga. The flip side, I guess, would be that it's taking revenue away from a conservative talker...

If this is so, when are they carrying it?
 
Re: WDOD Carrying "Duke and the Doctor"?

> An anti-Air America website says WDOD is now carrying the
> "Duke and the Doctor" show which was previously on WGOW-FM,
> I believe:
>
>
http://boreamerica.com/archives> /2005/10/the-wdod-air-america-debate-continues.html#comments
>
>
> Of course their spin is that WDOD is breaking format because
> it knows that liberal talk radio will fail in Chattanooga.
> The flip side, I guess, would be that it's taking revenue
> away from a conservative talker...
>
I think those Air America bashers are underestimating the possible appeal of Duke and the Doctor to the typical WDOD-AM listener. These days, Duke and the Doctor and many other health supplement advocates are quick to accuse the pharmaceutical industry, a constituency that is anything but liberal, of waging "war" on health supplements and using the government to help achieve that end. Certainly, I can see how a liberal might thus view a politician like Dick Durbin, a Democratic US Senator from Illinois who recently sought federal regulation of the health supplement industry, as a "traitor", a "sellout" to "Big Pharma". Also, from what I've observed, health supplements (especially herbal ones) and other forms of "alternative" medicine tend to be more popular among liberals than among conservatives anyway.

> If this is so, when are they carrying it?
>
If a poster on that anti-Air America site is to be believed, WDOD-AM airs Duke and the Doctor from 9 to 11 on weekday mornings.<P ID="signature">______________
This is AirwaveSurfer, reminding you that portions of this post have been prerecorded.</P>
 
Re: WDOD Carrying "Duke and the Doctor"?

The show is on in the early morning hours on the station...by tape delay.

The station is focusing more on its daytime programming than anything else...at least if the promos are any indication.
 
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